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Nom
Nom is classified as the largest moon orbiting the planet Nomia, which in turn is the fourth and final planet orbiting the star Herozi. Although located in the alpha quadrant and typically considered in Federation space, it is generally avoided by all Federation vessels and only observed from a distance by scientists since the Great Debacle. Although classified as a Class L planet, the classification has been under debate for several years, with many less politically correct scientists wishing to classify it as Class Q. Environment Although there are a total of eleven moons orbiting Nomia, the largest by far is the moon of Nom, nicknamed "The Veiled Widow" by passing commuters in the system. Nom gets its nickname for its appearance -- toxic clouds of volcanic ash constantly choke the view of the moon's surface in the planet's shadow. It's black appearance, completely un visible surface, coupled with the flashes of continual thunderstorms from its upper atmosphere, gave the first discoverers of the system the impression that Nom was "mourning" the fate of Nomia itself. Nom, however, was a very different world in its early stage of life. Despite the toxic clouds, a thick paste of algae and several oceans of liquid water covered the surface of the landscape. The algae eventually disappeared, being replaced by plant life that thrived on electricity. As the electro magnetic polarity of Nom shifted over time, the northern pole began to conduct electromagnetic currents from Nomia. The result was the transformation of Nom into a lightening rod to Nomia's thunderstorm activity. As Nom collected additional electric discharge from Nomia, so did the severity of the thunderstorms increase, rendering the moon incapable of supporting plant life -- even those that had adapted to live off electricity. After the Great Debacle, The intensity of the storms on Nomia increased dramatically, creating an even more inhospitable surface on Nom. The increased electromagnetic activity on the moon disrupted the core, resulting in a sudden flare up of volcanic activity that covered most of Nom's surface in volcanic oceans and produced inhospitably toxic conditions on the moon's atmosphere, even to local life. Currently, there are only 2 continents left unsubmerged. Government Although Nom could have boasted of its early adoption of democracy, such is no longer the case. The remaining population of the planet is under rule by marshall law under a totalitarian government, though it continues the appearance of a democractic society. The majority party, the Agrionian section, effectively dictates legislation through all branches of the government, while the centrist Delbarian section tries to stand up for more democratic principles of old. The government's head of state is the Chancellor. Inhabitants The lineage of species that would eventually lead to the lagiers demonstrate a remarkable ability for drastic adaptation only similarly seen in the human species. In the early stages of Nom's existence, the algae that coated the planet's surface was fed on by insects primarily. The source of nutrition in the insects was a strong enough incentive for early aquatic life to emerge from the depths and hunt on land. One of the most proficient forms of aquatic life were the aigro-serones, a form of predatorial, gymnotiform fish that developed the capability to use electric impulses and pack-hunting tactics to hunt the little aquatic life in the toxic, super-charged waters of the moon. The amphibious evolution of the aigro-serones led to the domination of the aigro-leroners, pack-hunting amphibious descendants of the creatures. They proved so proficient at hunting on land that they drove Nom insect-life to extinction, essentially eleminating the symbiotic relationship the insect life had with the algae. Without the gases the insects gave off as a waste byproduct, the algae died, leaving the aigro-leroners with no food source. By chance, the polarity shift of Nom brought the "lightening rod era" of Nom. The many fins of the aigro-leroners developed a means to capture electo-static discharges to the planet's surface. These fins began to elongate into tentacles and developed the ability to rise to increase likelihood of being struck. This curiously complex evolution supplied the new species, aigro-lagoners, the ability to acquire power from the unusual exchange of energy between Nomia and Nom. At this time, the four-legged animals used their pack mentality to track thunderstorm movements and communicate the locations of high-discharge areas, ushering in sentience to the species as they worked together to agriculturalize their resource. As time went on, height became a trademark of good health. The taller an aigro-lagoner was, the more likely it would be struck by discharge. A dramatic increase in height was achieved with the evolution of the aigro-lagar, or essentially a bipedal hominid and widely believed to be the early form of the modern lagier species. As population numbers increased, the desire to farm discharges became a secondary desire to fulfilling the growing lagar curiosity. Furthermore, as Nom's polarity started showing signs of shifting again, the frequency of the thunderstorms proved less and less, and became an unviable means of supplying energy. The final stage of evolution for this line of species occurred when the aigro-lagars began to breed opposite polarities. In this way, the aigro-lagiers were born, and the lagier species would begin to couple to exchange the necessary energy gathered from the surrounding charged atmosphere. This evolution proved advantageous not only in energy acquiring, but in mating, as the close proximity of lagiers during feeding bred attachment and encouraged sexual intercourse. The Great Debacle The Great Debacle is a term used to refer to a cataclysm on the Herozi system to the planet Nomia. United Federation of Planet's efforts to mine unique minerals out of the floating crust of Nomia failed when an anti-matter reactor became unstable. The resulting split of the continent disrupted the orbit of the other continents around the core, further disrupting the electromagnetic field of the planet. The chaos resulted in frequent increases in electromagnetic discharge to the moon of Nom, resulting in cataclysmic changes to the moon's atmosphere and geography. After the Great Debacle, the electromagnetic energy transfer between Nomia and Nom became more violent than ever in the planet's natural history. The amount of electrical discharges to the planet's surface endangered lagiers, as the power involved was far too much for their bodies to contain. The newly erupted volcanic oceans limited the moon's habital surface even further, and the toxicity of the atmosphere became too much to bear. Billions of lagiers died in the cataclysm, while the remaining population were forced underground to survive. Democratic principles of lagier society were abandoned in time of crisis, and a totalitarian government under Marshall law took over. This government has remained prominent to this day, using funds to advance in technology rapidly. As lagier scientists used technology to make first contact with the Andorians, the culprit of the Great Debacle was revealed in information exchange, resulting in lagier government to spur forward advancements in interstellar technology. The increased might of the lagiers with exceptional speed led Federation diplomats to fear intent for vengeance, and began the first ever diplomatic talks with the lagier species. References Nom